Frauscher Boats Brings Hybrid Power to Recreational Boating

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 28, 2008 (The Boating Channel)

As the 2008 boating season approaches and gas prices continue to soar, the first glimmer of alternative options for power boaters will arrive in San Francisco this coming May. On Thursday May 15th, California Chris-Craft will introduce Frauscher boats, makers of the world’s first production hybrid propulsion system for recreational boats. The Hybrid Launch event will feature viewing and ...

Coast Guard Saves Couple and Pets from Sinking Boat in N.C.

PORTSMOUTH, VA, March 27, 2008 (The Boating Channel) - The U.S. Coast Guard reports that rescue crews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and Coast Guard Station Hobucken, N.C., rescued two people from a life raft after their boat sank near the mouth of the Neuse River on Wednesday.

Watch standers at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a mayday call at 11:42 a.m. from James and Carol Warren, the crew of the 28-foot Linger While, stating that they were taking on water, and that the pumps onboard could not keep up with the flooding, and that they were abandoning ship.

A C-130 crew from Air Station Elizabeth City was diverted from a training flight to the vessel's location, where they sighted the two boaters sitting on top of the overturned vessel's hull.
The C-130 crew remained on scene until the Station Hobucken rescue crew arrived and safely transferred the Warrens, their two dogs, and their pet bird aboard the 25-foot rescue boat.

The Warrens and their pets were taken to Station Hobucken. "I did four years in the Navy, and after today I have a lot more respect for the Coast Guard. They did a really great job. It was a very quick response - they were out there 22 minutes after we called on the radio," said James Warren.

"The Warren's actions exemplify proactive thinking in regards to safe boating practices," said Chief Petty Officer Jeremy McConnell, the officer in charge at Coast Guard Station Hobucken.
"When the crew arrived on scene, the Warrens were wearing their life jackets and maintaining a position next to the sunken vessel ensuring that they didn't drift away from the wreckage. They also utilized a VHF radio to call out their distress. Their prudence as mariners helped save their lives and the lives of their animals," said McConnell

2 Medivaced From Vessel in NY’s Ambrose Channel

NEW YORK, NY March 25, 2008 (The Boating Channel)

The U.S. Coast Guard has medevaced two severely injured mariners from a 619-foot vessel anchored in Ambrose Channel at 3:20 p.m. today. A Coast Guard boarding team discovered that the two crewmembers were injured while the team was conducting a security boarding at 10:40 a.m. Due to the length of time the vessel will be at anchorage and the unknown severity of the injuries, a flight surgeon recommended the medevac.

One crewmember is reportedly suffering from a broken right leg, as well as injuries to his chin, knee and back. The other is reportedly suffering from an injured collarbone and back and is presently immobilized. The injuries reportedly occurred due to heavy seas while the mariners were working on board the Thor Alliance, home ported in Thailand, while the vessel was en route to New York Harbor Saturday, March 22.

A Coast Guard HH60 helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod arrived on scene at 3:15 p.m. and lowered an emergency medical technician to the vessel to determine if an airlift would be physically safe for the crewmembers. Once the medevac was determined to be safe, the injured men were hoisted onto the helicopter and transported to a local hospital on Staten Island.

"It's crucial to take precautions for all medical conditions you might receive while underway on the water," said Chief Petty Officer James Moore, Coast Guard Sector New York command duty officer. "Had it not been for the quick thinking of the Coast Guard boarding team members, the crewmember's injuries could have gotten progressively worse."

Weather on scene is reported as calm with 10-15-knot winds and one-foot seas.

Better Than Uncle Weatherby: Just Look Up!

WESTHAMPTON, NY (By Vincent Pica, Division Captain, Division-18 (1SR), United States Coast Guard Auxiliary - The Boating Channel)

Anybody who was borne prior to, say, 1970, can remember the newscaster/weatherman Tex Antoine, aka, Uncle Weatherby. While weather forecasting is far more reliable than ever before, it pales in our esteem for the mariner that can open the back door, look up, gaze knowingly for a second or two, and pronounce, "nah, we'll be coming home in a whopper. Tomorrow will be better." And, sure enough, a half day later, it is pouring. This is all about that mariner.

Clouds are Batteries

Since this column started, we've written about the weather and seamanship three times (see "Skippering in Heavy Weather", SSP, 10/11/06; "Lightning - Shocking!", SSP, 3/07/07; "Weathering the Squall", SSP, 11/28/07 - for copies email me below.) And, as those columns implied, clouds are batteries that store water and tremendous power. But the history of weather forecasting goes back to the dawn of time and is loaded with old wisdoms ("mare's tails and mackerel scales make tall-ship captains take in their sails") and many jokes, ("where else can you be so wrong so often and keep your job!?") So, where does the weather, and these "sayings", come from?

Part of the problem of weather forecasting was solved over a hundred years ago by British meteorologist, Luke Howard, when he devised a system of nomenclature that the rest of the world's scientists were constantly arguing about. Every country wanted to use its own language and definitions for naming clouds and their effects. Howard came forward using - you guessed it - Latin and the fight was over. Meteorologists the world over accepted his type/sub-type system:

• Cirrus ("hair") - wispy, high-level clouds that foretell a major weather system on its way (the mare's tails)


• Stratus ("layer") - these cloud formations have no specific feature except that they only form at specific altitudes (see the diagram)


• Cumulus ("pile") - the puffy clouds than coalesce into the thunderheads we all recognize that then presages the near immediate arrival of a major storm. BTW, the warmer the weather, the bigger they get (pile up into the sky.)


• Nimbus ("precipitating") - we're all familiar with these. By this time, it's raining. And, the darker they are, the more water they are carrying.
• Alto ("high") - like in music, while it means high, it means the second-highest (soprano or treble is higher in music) and cirrus's and, often, the cumulo's (thunderheads) are even higher.

Look Up!

Watching the weather over hours or even days, often subconsciously by that back-door mariner, adds to your skills in predicting the weather. And it is all about the sun, the sea and the land interacting.

The sun heats the land faster than the sea. The warm air rises, taking some moisture from the sea, lakes, creeks and rivers with it, and forms cumulus (puffy) clouds. This vacuum effect then brings in cooler air from the sea to fill the gap created by the rising air over the land and we have what we call a sea-breeze ("winds are known from whence they blow, currents are known for whence they flow.")

The opposite effects happen at night, as you might guess. The land cools faster and the process reverses. All this is generally called "convection." And where convection is occurring, clouds are forming - and they are batteries storing up water and power.


Blankets presage Rain

Another sign that weather is approaching is when the sky cover builds and the sea breeze stops… The cloud cover has now gotten so thick that the sun can't heat the air underneath the clouds. That's when someone mutters, "Please, let it rain and clear out this humidity…" The cloud is acting like a blanket - and you know how much you like blankets in the summertime!

Ancient mariners looked for clouds for two reasons. They didn't know that convection was causing the wind but clouds meant wind. They also meant land. Convection first lines the shore line with clouds. "Land Ho'!" And it builds from there. Some more proverbs: See if you can divine why they are true, based on what you now know:

"The moon with a circle brings water in her beak…"
"Rain before seven? Over by eleven."
"Red sky at morning? Sailor take warning!"


BTW, if you are interested in being part of USCG Forces, email me at JoinUSCGAux2008@aol.com or go direct to MaryJo Cruickshank, who is in charge of new members matters, at FSO-PS@emcg.us and we will help you "get in this thing…"

Coast Guard, San Mateo County Sheriff Dive on Vessel Wreckage

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 21, 2008 (The Boating Channel)- The Coast Guard, working in partnership with the San Mateo Country Sheriff's Department Dive Team and members of the San Francisco Police Department, has located what is believed to be the wreckage of the sailing vessel "Daisy." Yesterday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m., the San Mateo County Sheriff's Dive Team and the Coast Guard Cutter SOCKEYE located a portion of the vessel underwater using side sonar equipment. The wreckage was located approximately 3 nautical miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Divers from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office dove on the wreckage and reported no persons found among the underwater debris.

Weather limitations for the sonar equipment and for diving operations prevented the operation from occurring earlier in the week.

The Coast Guard and its partner agencies conducted an extensive search Saturday and Sunday after the sailing vessel "Daisy" was reported overdue from a race to the sea buoy and back. Coast Guard Investigators have been actively pursuing any information related to the "Daisy's" disappearance, and have been tracking down debris believed to be related to the case.

A final determination has not been made as to what happened to the "Daisy." The Coast Guard is continuing an inquiry into what may have caused the vessel to sink.